REAL ESTATE BROKER URGES METRO TO SHOW
GOOD FAITH ON PROPERTY TAX APPEALS
MIAMI, Sept. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Metro government's one-week extension of the Sept. 15 deadline for filing property tax appeals is "merely a token. A fair-minded county government will give people a chance to exercise their right to appeal," said Miami real estate broker Sheila Anderson. Anderson also rejected the repeated public statements by county officials that all hurricane damage is irrelevant to this year's assessments.
"Dade County should act in good faith and extend the appeal deadline at least until Oct. 15", said Anderson, the president of Commercial Property Services, Inc.
"It is completely unfair to expect Dade property owners to cope by Sept. 22 with current assessment notices that were mailed on the Friday before Hurricane Andrew hit," she said. "Many of the notices haven't been delivered yet, and the people most affected won't know about the five additional business days that the county manager has announced for filing appeals. Mail hasn't even been restored to many properties, and transportation and communication services are still very uneven."
Anderson emphasized that there were many factors casting doubt on South Florida property assessments this year. These include recession, errors in past years' assessments, concurrency requirements, RTC sales and over-building of commercial property.
Even storm damage may be a factor in some cases. "We reject the county's public statements that all storm damage is irrelevant to this year's assessments. There may be mitigating factors regarding flood zones and code
enforcement. The only way to find out is by appealing,"

Anderson said.

Banks and insurance companies and major property investors routinely appeal real estate assessments every year, Anderson noted, and all other owners should follow their example. "Reductions in taxes often serve to increase property value," she said. The owner pays only the $15 filing fee up front when professionals handle an appeal on a contingency basis.
"Naturally, it is in the interest of government to discourage appeals because a successful appeal lowers the government's revenue. Government officials therefore have a conflict of interest on the subject of delaying the
deadline. Any natural disaster that is sufficient to delay an election for one week, interrupt mail service and telecommunications for weeks or months and postpone school openings clearly is grounds for a significant extension, not a mere token.
"Property owners should demand that county commissioners give them a fair chance to exercise their right to appeal their property assessment. Whether they own a home, a business or both, people have a right to a fair basis for taxation."
The president of Commercial Property Services, Inc., at 1000 Harbor Place, N.E. Second Ave in Miami, Anderson is the broker who negotiated the donation of the Sears Roebuck property for the Dade County performing arts center.
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/CONTACT: Sheila Anderson, president of Commercial Property Services, Inc., 305-372-9200/ CO: Commercial Property Services ST: Florida IN: SU:

JB-AW -- FL004 -- 6300 09/03/92 10:02 EDT

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